Financial Marketing Tips & Tools for 2018
As 2017 draws to a close, many of our clients are making plans this holiday season to relax, recharge and refocus on their marketing goals and resolutions for the new year. The top of many lists includes an emphasis on digital marketing in 2018. Whether that means:
- Expanding your website to become more engaging and educational
- Creating a blog or podcast to establish thought leadership, authority and SEO
- Developing a consistent social media presence and content marketing strategy
- Creating email automation sequences to streamline your sales cycle or
- Enhancing advertising campaigns with Pay Per Click (PPC) components
In honor of the holiday spirit, here are a few of my favorite marketing gifts and resources to help you and your team going into the new year:
Images: The bottom line in digital marketing—Including video and images greatly increase engagement. From blog posts to social media, posts that include images produce 650 percent higher engagement than text-only posts, and an estimated 84 percent of communications will be visual by 2018 according to WebDAM. But remember, just because you can find it on Google does not mean you can use it! Here are a few sites to utilize for finding great (and legal!) imagery:
- Pexels: This is one of the best free stock photo sites currently available when it comes to the range of selection and a searchable database to find relevant images.
- Canva: This is a popular design tool for the non-designer. Whether you want to edit your photos or create some dynamic visuals for your social posts, this drag-and-drop editor provides thousands of templates, photos and illustrations offering both free and paid plans. Be sure to reference your brand standards for consistent use of your colors as you begin to explore these new options!
- 123rf.com: While there are a number of reputable paid stock photo sites available, 123rf.com provides an extensive database of images and videos for purchase along with flexible, low-commitment plans; so, if you just need one specific image, it will cost about $13 for a high-quality download. As a paid site, you can expect a much larger and higher-quality range of selections compared to free options. Just be sure to review the usage rights prior to purchase, as they will vary between images whether they are available for commercial use.
Fonts: When it comes to font selection, typically a brand will have 1-3 fonts established as part of the corporate brand for use in collateral and official communications. However, once you expand into marketing and advertising territory, there may be room for more creative and artistic options to enhance your campaigns. Here are a few sites that may expand your toolbox of options:
- WhatTheFont.com: This can be a great tool to help identify a font on any of your current designs or something you have seen and liked. Just upload a .jpg image and the site will help identify the font or those that are similar for you to download or purchase.
- Fonts.google.com: Google fonts offers a wide, searchable selection of fonts that are free for commercial use. You can also preview fonts for your specific text prior to downloading to help visualize each style.
- Dafont.com: Another great resource for free fonts, this may include a wider selection of stylized and artistic options. Just be sure to review the usage rights for each download prior to using it in your marketing materials.
Grammarly: While this is not a visual styling tool, it is a fantastic addition your whole team can benefit from to help ensure a professional image in your communications. Offering both a free and paid version, Grammarly proofreads your documents to help eliminate grammatical errors that Microsoft Word will not catch. It can even review to enhance your writing with vocabulary enhancements and even plagiarism checks. You can use the website version or download the software to have it proof your documents and emails as you work.
Regardless of your marketing goals for your financial firm in the new year, our team is here to help define, support and promote your brand to capture and retain your audience. Call (866) 888-5333 or email us at Info@advisorpr.com if we can be of help.
